Will Hillary Clinton Accept the Vice Presidency?

WILL HILLARY CLINTON ACCEPT THE VICE PRESIDENCY?

The American elections are important to Americans, but many people from around the world, particularly in Africa, are following with interest. And for good reason! As things are coming to a head, with Barack Obama seeming the probable nominee for the Democratic Party, controversy is growing around the continued candidacy of Hillary Clinton and the her potential role as vice president. Some think she should throw in the towel and work with Obama to strengthen the cohesion of the party by leading the battle against McCain. On the other hand, you should never count your chickens before they’ve hatched. Hillary must stay the course, since it is difficult to envisage her as Obama’s vice president, especially after the kind of combat she has carried out against Obama. Two opinions:

SHE WILL ACCEPT

We were introduced to Hillary Clinton as someone who would never quit – however, this does not mean she lacks realism or insight. She knows, because the figures do not lie, that she is no longer in a position to catch up to Barack Obama’s lead (even though she is snapping up the remaining states). Like everyone else, she is thinking of the best way to exit the race without ruining her credibility, her husband and without becoming jobless. She must go gracefully, demonstrating to the eyes of USA and the world that she is a woman of conviction who fights to the end for her ideas and for her country. Acceptance of the Vice President post would signify both courage and humility. Humility, because despite her wealth of experience, the expectations of her campaign, the age difference, and the fact that she is a former First Lady, she will accept the Vice President post even though she knows that it often consists of inaugurating chrysanthemums. She will do it because her financial situation has been eaten away by this terribly long campaign where she was confronting Obama on all fronts: $20 million in personal loans to her campaign–this is not nothing, and she intends to ask the Democratic Party to settle a portion of the debt!

She will also do it because she owes the Democratic Party. She is better placed than anyone to realize that a prolonged confrontation increases the chances of a McCain victory, and that she would go down in history as the person who ruined the chances of the Democratic Party. She will do it to avoid the “racist” label which will be applied quickly if she obstinately maintains her candidacy until the verdict of the electors, and especially if she refuses an offer to be Obama’s vice president. African Americans, who showed great support for Bill Clinton, to the point where he has been described as the first black American president, would not forgive his wife for refusing the famous winning ticket, any more than would the national and international opinion which have always regarded her a great lady because of the largesse of her ideas. Finally, they say her husband supports this ticket, because it leaves the chance that his wife–and maybe their daughter-–can continue their career in the future. So it is a matter of time, if not strategy, logic and reason. Hillary, however, can not do anything but accept the vice presidency in case of proposal.

SHE WON’T ACCEPT

Within the Democratic Party, the patience of Americans has been put to the test: they are still waiting to see what will happen. It is therefore too early to talk about the vice presidency. Hillary Clinton could still return to the lead: a fatal mistake by Barack Obama, a major reversal of superdelegates…she seems to have found so much punch, so much desire to get the nomination that she drags along her supporters in a crazy dream to recapture the lead. One cannot show such a madness to win, incur the risk of weakening the party, play the racist’s game, and then become an insipid Vice President after the fact.

If indeed, the current trend continues, and Obama eventually wins the Democratic Party nomination, the former First Lady may well decline the vice presidency if it is offered to her. She has still been First Lady for eight years, been the assumed candidate of the Democratic Party, far ahead of her challenger. How could she agree to descend so low? Additionally, this was an extremely difficult campaign that will leave scars on bodies and souls. She loves the Democratic Party, and she will not swallow it all at once to find herself second; stuck in the shadow of her failure for many years. She still has her pride, after all. If at least, she had been dealing with a candidate of her age, experience and / or a similar reputation it wouldn’t be so bad, but that fact that it is Barack Obama, a virtually unknown youngster–not even a true American, as his enemies are beginning to whisper–that hurts! Moreover, such a refusal on her part would be understood by the public, especially by men like Senator Kennedy who have advised Barack Obama not to offer this vice presidency to Hillary.

It’s important to be reasonable and not belittle this woman, not accuse her of racist tendencies if she declines the offer; rather, we should see this as act of honesty in keeping with her character, because it is clear that their partnership would be very difficult. Hillary Clinton has a personality that could not be contained in the straitjacket of the vice presidency. This could lead to a clash of wills that has never been seen in the history of Executive America. No, it is better if she becomes President of the Supreme Court, or more? Who knows! If Obama wins, or McCain wins but dies (he is already old and has suffered skin cancer which left scars), she could run in 2012 with great opportunities to take back the presidential election because Americans would then turn away from their “Obamania”!